From what I read in Edward Phelips’s diaries of his trips to London he seems to take different routes. It took two full days of travelling from Montacute House to Parliament Street in London. This post looks at his route to London from Montacute in January 1779. The route was accommodated by coaching inns which provided refreshments, a change of horses, or a bed for the night.
Diary entries for the 23rd & 24th of January 1779
SATURDAY, 23rd JANUARY 1779
Left-hand side of diary
Set out at 7. Reached Henstridge Ash at 10. Changed own fore pairs of horses – got to Shaston at 12. Sarum after three. Stockbridge 6. Drank tea, supped & went to Bed at 10.[i]
Right-hand side of diary
I, sister, wife, Charles, Rhoda & B. Beaton set out for London to attend Parliament in my coach. My wife very ill in a sore throat.[ii]
SUNDAY, 24th JANUARY 1779
Left-hand side of diary
Set out at 7, came to Basingstoke half after 10. Breakfasted. Arrived in Town at 4. Dined afternoon Mr. Wright’s. Ned & Master Horner who went to the Charterhouse that Even.[iii]
Right-hand side of diary
Lodged as in the former year at Mr. Read’s in Parliament Street.[iv]
FIRST DAY OF THE JOURNEY – Saturday 23rd January
Montacute 7:00 a.m. Sunrise would have been at 07:59 a.m., so the first hour would have been dark. I am not sure how many pairs of horses would have pulled the coach. A coach was a considerable luxury. Almost like having a private helicopter today. Six of them travelled in it. There would have been luggage and coachmen, so it must have been at least 4 horses pulling the coach.
MONTACUTE TO HENSTRIDGE ASH: 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. – 18 miles in 3 hours
The first stop was Henstridge Ash, where they arrived at 10, 3 hours after leaving Montacute. The journey would have been about 18 miles, which means they were travelling at 6 miles per hour if they did not stop.
The inn at the crossroads is nowadays called the Virginia Ash. The road would have left Montacute, gone through or skirted Yeovil and onto what is today the A30 that leads towards Sherborne and onwards. The legend is that Sir Walter Raleigh, who had Sherborne Castle and later built Sherborne New Castle, was seated enjoying a pipe of tobacco. A servant, unaware of smoking, thought Sir Walter was on fire and doused him with a bucket of water. This is the legend that has stuck today. However, in Edward’s day he refers to it as Henstridge Ash. The name of the village and maybe referring to an ash tree. The inn building dates from the 18th C.[v]
Edward wrote is autobiography about an incident at the Henstridge Ash on the 15th of August 1770. It was a Wednesday.
On the 15th of August my chaise was sent to Henstridge Ash to meet Mr Wright when from carelessness & inattention the horses ran off from the door of the Inn & entirely demolished & pulled it all to pieces.[vi]
At the stop at Henstridge in 1779 he changed his own fore pairs of horses. This may suggest there were more than 2 pairs, and it was the front 2 pairs that were changed. Coaching inns were big business in the 18th C. Presumably the horses could be later picked up and taken back to Montacute by grooms, so that they did not necessarily have to be provided with stabling until a return journey some weeks later.
HENSTRIDGE ASH TO SHASTON (Shaftesbury): 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. – 10 miles in 2 hours.
The timing and mileage would suggest 5 miles per hour. However, there needed to be a change of the horses and maybe some time for refreshment. If they were able to keep travelling at 6 miles per hour, that would take them about 1 hour and 40 minutes. They would have spent 20 minutes at Henstridge Ash.
A possible contender for a coaching inn in Shaftesbury was The Fountain Inn, a mid-18th C coaching inn, The Red Lion (now the Grosvenor Hotel) or The Mitre Inn.
Shaftesbury was still known as Shaston in the early 20th C, according to Sir Frederick Treves in his book, Highways and Byways in Dorset, published in 1906: ‘… It was on the high road also from London to Exeter … The city has had many names. It was, in the beginning, Caer Pallador. By the time of the Domesday Book it was Sceptesberie. It then, with all the affectation of a lady in an eighteenth-century lyric, called itself Sophonia. Lastly it became Shaston and so the people call it to this day, while all the milestones around concern themselves only with recording the distances to “Shaston”.’[vii]
SHASTON TO SARUM: 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. – 22.5 miles in 3 hours
The coach speeded up along this journey to 7.5 miles an hour. It is possible that they coach was faster on the other legs, and they had a break between Montacute and Henstridge Ash and longer at the inn. It is difficult to determine times accurately as the state of the road would need to be taken into account.
A possible contender for a coaching inn was The Old Castle Inn opposite Old Sarum
Old Sarum Castle.
SARUM TO STOCKBRIDGE: 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. – 16 miles in 3 hours.
This leg of 16 miles in 3 hours would mean the coach travelled at 5.34 miles per hour. However, the times don’t take into account breaks. If they were able to continue from Old Sarum to Stockbridge at 7.5 miles per hour, they could have had a 45-minute break at Sarum.
Today the journey in a car from Montacute to Stockbridge would be 70 miles and take 1 hour 22 minutes without hold ups. The Phelips spent from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. travelling in a coach, a journey of 11 hours. It would be the height of luxury to have a coach, but still would not been an easy journey. In January it would have been cold, and if not icy, then potentially muddy.
Turnpikes had started in the latter part of the 17th C to maintain the roads. In Somerset the Turnpike Trusts were being established in the mid to late 18th C. It is likely that the road conditions were challenging. However, the Phelips family were resilient. It must have been particularly difficult for Edward’s wife, who was ill with a sore throat.
They fortified themselves with tea and later in the evening, supper, at one of the coaching inns at Stockbridge. Edward retired to bed at 10:00 p.m.
The coaching inn they stayed at in Stockbridge may have been The Vine Inn, The King’s Head, The White Hart, or The Old Three Cups Hotel.
SECOND DAY OF THE JOURNEY – Sunday 24th January
Set out at 7, came to Basingstoke half after 10. Breakfasted. Arrived in Town at 4.[viii]
STOCKBRIDGE TO BASINGSTOKE: 7:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. – 24 miles in 3.5 hours
They would have set out an hour before sunrise in January. For this leg of the journey the coach travelled at around 7 miles per hour. At Basingstoke they breakfasted. Breakfast is not often mentioned in Edward’s diaries. Consistently dinner and supper are mentioned. Tea is often mentioned.
BASINGSTOKE TO LONDON: 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. – 51 miles in 5 hours
Assuming they had half an hour for breakfast and set off again at 11:00 a.m. The coach spend now would have been 10.2 miles an hour. This seems fast and would the horses have managed it in one leg? It wouldn’t be until c. 1816 that John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836) started improving roads with his method which would become known as ‘macadamisation’. However, it is likely roads into London may have been more accommodating to coaches in the latter part of the 18th C.
SUMMARY OF THE JOURNEY
The journey in miles was around 140 miles and took two full days. Edward was estimating the times taken and rounding them up to whole hours, but it certainly gives a reasonable indication of timings. Travelling in January cannot have an easy time of year.
JANUARY BEFORE THE JOURNEY TO LONDON
An observation from looking at Edward’s diaries is how hardy they were compared with us today. If it was cold, you got up, went out and got on with your day. Edward had remarked in his diary on the 11th & 12th of January 1779 on a hard frost. In the days before setting off for London he was busy chasing and killing hares and a ‘bag’ otter which had been brought in a bag from Langport. Ned had been at the Sessions (as counsel) in Wells on the 13th of January. Edward joined his son on Thursday 14th of January at Wells for the Sessions. Edward stayed over at Wells, dined, and supped at The Swan and lodged at Doctor Complin’s. He returned after his business to Montacute the next day in the afternoon. The journey took 3.5 hours on the way out and 3 hours on the return. It is around 25 miles to Wells, so he was journeying around 8.3 miles an hour. He might well have gone on horseback rather than coach. On the outward trip he called for Ned Napier who accompanied him. The Napiers were a family who owned the manor of Tintinhull. An Edward Napier was vicar there from 1772-1816.[ix] Tintinhull is a village about 2 miles north of Montacute.
It is not stated where the Sessions were held. However, he notes in the diary of 1779 on Monday, 22nd of February that there was a committee at the House of Commons discussing Wells Town Hall. Presumably the Sessions were held in the old one that had fallen into a state of disrepair.
The day before setting off to London (the 22nd), he had dined at John Goodford’s (likely his house in Yeovil) and gone to The Mermaid in Yeovil afterwards with his friends William Langdon and Batten (Battens were lawyers in Yeovil). In the days leading up to travelling to London he had dined at Mrs. Beans on the Monday, Mr. Daniels on the Tuesday, and Mrs. Phelipps’s on the Thursday.
WRIGHT & PARLIAMENT STREET
Mr. (William) Wright had been living at St. Stephen’s Court in 1747 with his wife and daughter. His wife had died in 1766 from ‘mortification of the foot’[x]. Presumably St. Stephen’s Court was part of the old Palace of Westminster by St. Stephen’s Chapel, which was mainly destroyed in the fire of 1834.
In his autobiography entry for 1747, Edward wrote:
On the 27th day of May 1747 I intermarried with Miss Maria Wright, daughter of William Wright Esq. of the Exchequer, and Ann his wife who resided in St. Stephens Court near Westminster Hall, which marriage, I thank God, I had no reason to repent.[xi]
NED, MASTER HORNER & CHARTERHOUSE
Dined afternoon Mr. Wright’s. Ned & Master Horner who went to the Charterhouse that Even.[xii]
From the way that Edward writes his diaries it indicates that Ned and Master Horner were at dinner at Mr. Wright’s also. Ned being Edward’s son, Edward VI. Master Horner went off to Charterhouse that evening. This presumably is the school at Godalming in Surrey, some 47 miles from Westminster. John Fane, the 10th Earl of Westmoreland (1759-1841), Edward V’s neighbour at Brympton D’Evercy also had attended Charterhouse. John Wesley (1703-1791) was also an ’Old Carthusian’, as alumni are referred to.[xiii]
LODGING IN PARLIAMENT STREET
Lodged as in the former year at Mr. Read’s in Parliament Street.[xiv]
In 1779 he, and his family, lodged at Mr. Read’s in Parliament Street. As of yet, I have no address for Mr. Read’s. Parliament Street has changed significantly from the days of Edward Phelips.
Parliament Street in 2023
HORSEGUARDS
Perhaps one building he would have recognised is Horse Guards. Built in the mid 18th century. The building acts as a gateway between Whitehall and St James’s Park. The old horse guards building had been falling into disrepair in the mid-18th C and George II agreed to replace it and commissioned William Kent to create a design. He went for a Palladian-style entrance. Kent died in 1748, before building had started, and his assistant John Vardy took over the project. The clock was erected in 1768 by Thwaites & Co., the oldest clockmakers in London.[xv]
Horse Guards
A View of the west front Horse Guards, with the Treasury and Downing Street beyond, c. 1758 attributed to Samuel Wale. Photo credit: National Army Museum – how Edward Phelips would have seen the rear of Horse Guards.
EDWARD’S FAMILY IN LONDON
Edward and his family in London:
Edward V (b. 1725) is 53
Edward VI (Ned) (son – b. April 1753) is 25
Rhoda (daughter – b. March 1759) is 19
Wife (b. 1730) 48
Charles (son – b. December 1765) is 13
Elizabeth, Edward V’s sister
Beaton travelled with them. His position might become clear in further investigations of the diaries.
There is no entry as to how and when Edward VI (Ned) travelled up to London. Not mentioned at this stage in the diaries are the other sons John (b. 1756) and William (b. 1755).
Elizabeth and Maria Phelips
Edward V’s other daughters are not with them. Elizabeth (b. 1750) had married John Clarke of Haldon in August 1773. He and his son Edward had ridden to Cornwall in 1777. He wrote in his autobiography for 1777.
On Friday, the 18th of July, Edward & Self on horseback made an excursion into Cornwall to see Mr. Clarke. We arrived at Saltash the 20. Set out for home the 27th & arrived at Montacute 29.[xvi]
Edward V would not see his daughter Elizabeth until 1785.
In his autobiography he writes in his recollection of 1785:
The 15th of May my daughter Clarke paid me a visit from Cornwall which gave infinite pleasure as I had not seen her for more than six years.[xvii]
Maria (b. 1757) was also married by 1779. Edward wrote in his autobiography:
My daughter Maria was born September 11 1757 and 23 of October 1776 she was married to John Old Goodford Esq. of Yeovil my intimate friend & neighbour to my great satisfaction…[xviii]
NOTES
[i] Somerset Heritage Centre, ‘Diary of Edward Phelips of Monatcute House. 1 Jan 1770-31 Dec 1779’’, Stevens Cox Collection, A/CTP/3/3/1.
[ii] Stevens Cox Collections, A/CTP/3/3/1.
[iii] Stevens Cox Collections, A/CTP/3/3/1.
[iv] Stevens Cox Collections, A/CTP/3/3/1.
[v] Mary Chisholm, ‘Sir Walter Raleigh in Dorset Part 5: The New World – The Potato & Tobacco’, Exploring Building History (2020), https://www.exploringbuildinghistory.co.uk/?s=virginia [accessed 30 September 2023]
[vi] Somerset Heritage Centre, ‘Autobiography of Edward Phelips (1725-97), c1794’, Phelips Manuscripts, DD/PH/224/114.
[vii] Sir Frederick Treves, Highways and Byways in Dorset, (London: MacMillan and Co., 1906), p. 2.
[viii] Stevens Cox Collections, A/CTP/3/3/1.
[ix] A P Baggs, R J E Bush and Margaret Tomlinson, ‘Parishes: Tintinhull’, in A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 3, ed. R W Dunning (London, 1974), pp. 255-265. British History Onlinehttp://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/som/vol3/pp255-265 [accessed 30 September 2023].
[x] Somerset Heritage Centre, ‘Autobiography of Edward Phelips (1725-97), c1794’, Phelips Manuscripts, DD/PH/224/114.
[xi] Phelips Manuscripts, DD/PH/224/114.
[xii] Stevens Cox Collections, A/CTP/3/3/1.
[xiii] ‘List of Old Carthusians’, Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Old_Carthusians [accessed 3 October 2023].
[xiv] Stevens Cox Collections, A/CTP/3/3/1
[xv] http://www.trooping-the-colour.co.uk/horseguards/
[xvi] Phelips Manuscripts, DD/PH/224/114.
[xvii] Phelips Manuscripts, DD/PH/224/114.
[xviii] Phelips Manuscripts, DD/PH/224/114.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baggs, A P, R J E Bush and Margaret Tomlinson, ‘Parishes: Tintinhull’, in A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 3, ed. R W Dunning (London, 1974), pp. 255-265. British History Onlinehttp://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/som/vol3/pp255-265 [accessed 30 September 2023]
Chisholm, Mary, ‘Sir Walter Raleigh in Dorset Part 5: The New World – The Potato & Tobacco’, Exploring Building History (2020), https://www.exploringbuildinghistory.co.uk/?s=virginia [accessed 30 September 2023]
Somerset Heritage Centre, ‘Diary of Edward Phelips of Monatcute House. 1 Jan 1770-31 Dec 1779’’, Stevens Cox Collection, A/CTP/3/3/1
Somerset Heritage Centre, ‘Autobiography of Edward Phelips (1725-97), c1794’, Phelips Manuscripts, DD/PH/224/114
Treves, Sir Frederick, Highways and Byways in Dorset, (London: MacMillan and Co., 1906)